fortress

Definition of fortressnext
as in stronghold
a structure or place from which one can resist attack the boys built a snow fortress and then challenged the neighborhood kids to an in-your-face snowball fight

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fortress One focus of Russian attacks has been the town of Lyman in Donetsk, at the edge of what’s known as Ukraine’s fortress belt in the region, and a key strongpoint guarding the larger city of Sloviansk. Tim Lister, CNN Money, 22 Mar. 2026 Alexandre Dumas’s novel of identity and revenge gets a big-budget remake with Sam Claflin starring as Edmond Dantès, a sailor wrongly imprisoned in an island fortress who, after his escape and subsequent treasure finding, plots his vengeance. Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2026 As the publication notes, visitors can explore landmarks like the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument — a 17th-century fortress that brings Spanish colonial history to life. Doris Alvarez Cea, Florida Times-Union, 20 Mar. 2026 The point is not to turn the home into a fortress but to remove single points of failure. Neal K. Shah, Boston Herald, 17 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for fortress
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fortress
Noun
  • He was killed in southern Lebanon, a stronghold of the militant group Hezbollah, as Israel expands an invasion there.
    ABC News, ABC News, 29 Mar. 2026
  • Journalists heard several explosions from the direction of the Hezbollah stronghold, which Israel has repeatedly struck since war began.
    CBS News, CBS News, 28 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • Craig Proctor, the childhood friend who played Dungeons & Dragons with him, told me that Friedmann once showed him architectural floor plans for a citadel that Friedmann’s thief-rogue avatar would oversee.
    James Verini, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
  • Jeremy Blake released a trilogy of animations about San Jose’s Winchester Mystery House, the Victorian citadel built by a gun heiress to keep out the ghosts of those killed with her rifles.
    Rachel Wetzler, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2026
Noun
  • Mission Foods began fortification in 2024.
    CNN Money, CNN Money, 30 Mar. 2026
  • That view contrasts sharply with critics — including some at the highest level of government — who regard fortification of the food supply as a form of government overreach.
    ABC News, ABC News, 29 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • And the staff are available up to nine hours a day to lead on-property animal rescue adventures and oversee sand-castle building on the two private beaches.
    Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Mar. 2026
  • Two dozen disciples who have gathered in this large white space within a 19th-century Scottish castle ruminate with total concentration.
    Séamas O'Reilly, Vulture, 26 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • Military engineers resorted to building lower, thicker ramparts, backed by earth, and sought to eliminate blind spots by building angular bastions — the aforementioned extrusions.
    Big Think, Big Think, 27 Mar. 2026
  • Malls in the Gulf have been a bastion of normalcy amid the instability, although footfall is substantially down on usual levels.
    Kelsey Warner, semafor.com, 26 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • The resulting star forts (so called because of their multiple fortified extrusions) solved a technological crisis.
    Big Think, Big Think, 27 Mar. 2026
  • The fort stood high above the river, where fearsome artillery was able to turn back the Union gunboats that had pounded low-lying Fort Henry into submission.
    Bill Steiden, Des Moines Register, 24 Mar. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Fortress.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fortress. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.

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